I think this is great. I don't want to see an industry "destroyed" but I hate the fact that diamonds are basically worthless stones and we're supposed to accept that its a hallowed tradition to spend money on something that has an artificially limited supply.

This is to say nothing of the child slaves being drafted into the armies that protect the warlords who control some of these mines.

precisely pittsoccer, they are not rare by any stretch of the imagination. they should not be expensive. but they have done one hell of a job convincing everyone they're worth something. probably one of the best marketing ploys in history. the worst part is the people that buy into it. again, my fiancee was fine with not having a diamond, and as someone previously mentioned, if she wasn't okay with it, we probably wouldn't be engaged right now.

For the gemstones, they do start out as low quality Type IIa diamonds. The aforementioned high pressure and also the unmentioned ludicrous high temperature. We do however make completely synthetic diamonds for industrial use in many different grades along with cubic boron nitride. I've heard of completely synthetic gems being made, but not seen them... Jack Welch, former CEO of GE wrote about DeBeers being the only thing he couldn't beat in his book. We have an agreement with them and the GIA, thus why one doesn't see these stones on the retail market. Pretty much employees only and a few high end Jewelers... They are high end stones, basically I can get and IF, colorless stone for the same price as the same carat size SI1-2 stone g-h color.

count2infinity wrote:precisely pittsoccer, they are not rare by any stretch of the imagination. they should not be expensive. but they have done one hell of a job convincing everyone they're worth something. probably one of the best marketing ploys in history. the worst part is the people that buy into it. again, my fiancee was fine with not having a diamond, and as someone previously mentioned, if she wasn't okay with it, we probably wouldn't be engaged right now.

So if the perfect girl, your fiance, said she wanted a diamond, you'd let that stand in the way of a lifetime of happiness with her?

Tough talk. I'm sure I've said something similar. But I don't believe you or me.

Exactly. Someone that is that materialistic wouldn't be my type anyways. What I'm saying is that if she was the type of girl that would demand a diamond ring, she'd probably have other personality traits that don't bode well with my personality traits and we likely wouldn't be together.

i work with a really nice girl but shes adamant that a man should spend at least $10,000 of his money (which as I pointed out is a fallacy - its "their" money and will hurt her pocketbook too) to prove he loves her and hes in for the long haul. Huh?

If you have a lot of cash on hand, a nice 401k, equity in a house, paid off cars, and no student loans that's great. But "proving" love by running further into debt is just ridiculous.

pittsoccer33 wrote:i work with a really nice girl but shes adamant that a man should spend at least $10,000 of his money (which as I pointed out is a fallacy - its "their" money and will hurt her pocketbook too) to prove he loves her and hes in for the long haul. Huh?

If you have a lot of cash on hand, a nice 401k, equity in a house, paid off cars, and no student loans that's great. But "proving" love by running further into debt is just ridiculous.

at age 29, kenny the kangaroo does not look at $10k as $10k, kenny the kangaroo considers it in terms of down payment money for a house. so if you are spending $10 grand on some broad, you should look at it as $50,000 in terms of buying a house. so if this broad wants $50,000 less of a house, go for it.

skullman80 wrote:I don't think I would date someone that would be that materialistic. It's just asinine to me that people spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on diamond rings. I dunno that's just me.

Just because you get them a diamond for their wedding doesn't necessarily make them materialistic. My wife always loved the emerald cut of a diamond. I saved up and dropped $4k on her ring and I was happy to do it. I'm not one that will ever let $ dictate my life so I really didn't care and it was awesome saving that much up that young and spending it all on that, it would have definitely been better served on a house downpayment or something like that, but who cares. She was just some hippy chick that wore bandanas for shirts, hardly materialistic, but she loved it (would have loved anything I gave her regardless of price) but it was something special that she loved. To me there's no difference spending 25k on a diamond or $500 on a gem, it's so much more than about the money

edit: just to be clear, I'm terrible at trying to get my point across, I'm not even sure what I'm saying here

Last edited by eddysnake on Wed Jul 03, 2013 9:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

KennyTheKangaroo wrote:at age 29, kenny the kangaroo does not look at $10k as $10k, kenny the kangaroo considers it in terms of down payment money for a house. so if you are spending $10 grand on some broad, you should look at it as $50,000 in terms of buying a house. so if this broad wants $50,000 less of a house, go for it.

you know, and you try putting it into real terms and these people just don't understand.

its this generation i think who at 27 years old still lives at home or has their parents schedule oil changes for their cars. they have no clue how to put the real world together beyond kardashians and kesha.

pittsoccer33 wrote:i work with a really nice girl but shes adamant that a man should spend at least $10,000 of his money (which as I pointed out is a fallacy - its "their" money and will hurt her pocketbook too) to prove he loves her and hes in for the long haul. Huh?

If you have a lot of cash on hand, a nice 401k, equity in a house, paid off cars, and no student loans that's great. But "proving" love by running further into debt is just ridiculous.

when you put a price tag on it, that's crazy to me. to this date, my wife has never asked nor have I mentioned how much I spent on her engagement ring.

count2infinity wrote:I think reading into the diamond trade a bit really helped me pick moissanite for the engagement ring. The ridiculousness of the jewelry industry in general is sickening.

I've bought diamond earrings before as gifts - diamonds do look nice. But the whole principle of the thing blows my mind. Thats why when this girl told me she'd love to have a unique ring with her birthstone (emerald) that I was floored. I'd spend just as much on it - probably get a few smaller diamonds onto the band or higher quality gold. stuff like that. but the fact so many people buy into diamonds=love is just whacky.

I also bought a moissanite ring for my fiance. She loves it and gladly tells everyone that it is not actually a diamond. This conversation most often happens after that person says "that's a beautiful ring, it sparkles so much etc". It allowed me to get a bigger stone and save about $3500.

We had discussed the possibility of moissanite before the purchase was made. I think you definitely have to make sure they are on board.

The day after I bought it, I paid the $3500 that I saved towards her private student loans with 10% interest rates. Major financial win all around.

Planning for the rehearsal dinner and found out our #1 option (Luciano's in White Oak) is booked that day. Any ideas on other places to go for a rehearsal dinner in the South Hills? I'm striking out a bit on options. We'd like to be in the Elizabeth/Pleasant Hills area, but will certainly venture further if need be.